ORGANISERS of a charity for the disabled last night denied that they
were on a ''nice little earner'' at the taxpayers' expense.
The National Audit Office is carrying out a routine investigation of
the disabled drivers' charity, Motability.
The charity's chairman, Lord Sterling, said it had nothing to hide. It
provided a valuable service to hundreds of thousands of disabled people.
However, the Social Security Secretary, Mr Peter Lilley, has told the
organisers that they should be fighting for the best value for money for
their customers.
Motability will today hand over the keys of its 500,000th vehicle to a
disabled driver at a Downing Street reception being given by Mr Major.
The charity, through its financial arm, Motability Finance Ltd,
provides leased and adapted cars to disabled drivers, who in return hand
over their weekly #32.65 disability living allowance.
Some disabled groups have voiced concern that the banks behind the
operation are making high profits through the charity's ability to
command hefty discounts from car companies.
Labour MP Harry Barnes, who is piloting his Civil Rights (Disabled
People) Bill through the Commons, said the allegations greatly concerned
him.
''Motability is a very important scheme. If people are paying
excessive amounts for the service then that's unfortunate and it reduces
its scope. It's something that I intend to pursue.''
Mr David Whitton, of the Spinal Injuries Association, said: ''While
Motability is an excellent scheme, there are concerns about the lack of
any other competition.''
Disability groups were so concerned about Motability's activities that
they arranged a meeting with vice-chairman Gerry Acher two weeks ago.
Motability had agreed to come back with figures but had not yet done
so.
The Daily Telegraph, in an article by assistant editor Boris Johnson,
has questioned the way the charity operates and suggested it was making
money from disabled people.
Lord Sterling, chairman of the shipping group P&O and close adviser to
Baroness Thatcher, said that Motability had a ''remarkable'' record.
''The NAO decided over a year ago to look at payments to Motability as
part of its programme of reviewing DSS grant in aid bodies. There is
nothing unusual in this,'' he said in a letter to the Telegraph.
''Mr Johnson states that Motability is a monopoly supplier of cars
which has the potential 'to make rather a lot of money from disabled
people'.
''When I remember from the very day Motability started the tremendous
support we have had from the banks, not just financial and
administrative, but in terms of advice and know-how, I think his
accusation that the scheme is 'a nice little earner' is totally
unjustified.''
One charity source has estimated that disabled people are effectively
paying up to #150 too much per car, and that surplus profits are running
at about #12.5m a year.
The NAO confirmed that an investigation was under way but insisted
that it was routine and similar to others carried out each year on
dozens of organisations which spend taxpayers' money.
''We are looking at what they are doing, seeing how their systems
operate and particularly their accountability to the people who are
paying them,'' an official said.
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